Richard "Red" Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American comedy entertainer. He was best known for his national radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971, and as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.

Skelton was most eager to work in television, even when the medium was in its infancy. The Red Skelton Show made its television premiere on September 30, 1951, on NBC. By 1954, Skelton's program moved to CBS, where it was expanded to one hour and renamed The Red Skelton Hour in 1962. Despite high ratings, the show was cancelled by CBS in 1970, as the network believed that more youth-oriented programs were needed to attract younger viewers and their spending power. Skelton moved his program to NBC, where he completed his last year with a regularly scheduled television show in 1971. He spent his time after that making as many as 125 personal appearances a year and working on his art.

Skelton's artwork of clowns remained a hobby until 1964 when his wife Georgia persuaded him to have a showing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas while he was performing there. Sales of his originals were successful, and he also sold prints and lithographs of them, earning $2.5 million yearly on lithograph sales. At the time of his death, his art dealer believed that Skelton had earned more money through his paintings than from his television work.

Skelton believed that his life's work was to make people laugh; he wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything. He had a 70-year career as a performer and entertained three generations of Americans. His widow donated many of his personal and professional effects to Vincennes University, including prints of his artwork. They are part of the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy at Vincennes.

Born Richard Bernard Eheart[1] on July 18, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana, Skelton was the fourth and youngest son of Ida Mae (née Fields) and Joseph Elmer Skelton. Joseph, a grocer, died two months before Richard was born; he had once been a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.[2][3] His birth certificate surname was that of his father's stepfather. During Skelton's lifetime there was some dispute about the year of his birth. Author Wesley Hyatt suggests that since he began working at such an early age, Skelton may have claimed he was older than he actually was in order to gain employment.[1][a][b] Vincennes neighbors described the Skelton family as being extremely poor; a childhood friend remembered that her parents broke up a youthful romance between her sister and Skelton because they thought he had no future.[6]

Because of the loss of his father, Skelton went to work as early as the age of seven, selling newspapers and doing other odd jobs to help his family, who had lost the family store and their home.[6][7] He quickly learned the newsboy's patter and would keep it up until a prospective buyer bought a copy of the paper just to quiet him.[2] According to later accounts, Skelton's early interest in becoming an entertainer stemmed from an incident that took place in Vincennes around 1923, when a stranger, supposedly the comedian Ed Wynn, approached Skelton, who was the newsboy selling papers outside a Vincennes theater. When the man asked Skelton what events were going on in town, Skelton suggested he see the new show in town. The man purchased every paper Skelton had, providing enough money for the boy to purchase a ticket for himself. The stranger turned out to be one of the show's stars, who later took the boy backstage to introduce him to the other performers. The experience prompted Skelton, who had already shown comedic tendencies, to pursue a career as a performer.[8][3][6][c]

Skelton discovered at an early age that he could make people laugh. Skelton dropped out of school around 1926 or 1927, when he was 13 or 14 years old, but he already had some experience performing in minstrel shows in Vincennes, and on a showboat, The Cotton Blossom, that plied the Ohio and Missouri rivers.[2][10] He enjoyed his work on the riverboat, moving on only after he realized that showboat entertainment was coming to an end.[4] Skelton, who was interested in all forms of acting, took a dramatic role with the John Lawrence stock theater company, but was unable to deliver his lines in a serious manner; the audience laughed instead. In another incident, while performing in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Skelton was on an unseen treadmill; when it malfunctioned and began working in reverse, the frightened young actor called out, "Help! I'm backing into heaven!" He was fired before completing a week's work in the role.[2][4][11] At the age of 15, Skelton did some early work on the burlesque circuit,[12] and reportedly spent four months with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in 1929, when he was 16 years old.[13]

Ida Skelton, who held multiple jobs to support her family after the death of her husband, did not suggest that her youngest son had run away from home to become an entertainer, but "his destiny had caught up with him at an early age". She let him go with her blessing. Times were tough during the Great Depression, and it may have meant one less child for her to feed.[3][14] Around 1929, while Skelton was still a teen, he joined "Doc" R.E. Lewis's traveling medicine show as an errand boy who sold bottles of medicine to the audience. During one show, when Skelton accidentally fell from the stage, breaking several bottles of medicine as he fell, people laughed. Both Lewis and Skelton realized one could earn a living with this ability and the fall was worked into the show. He also told jokes and sang in the medicine show during his four years there.[15] Skelton earned ten dollars a week, and sent all of it home to his mother. When she worried that he was keeping nothing for his own needs, Skelton reassured her: "We get plenty to eat, and we sleep in the wagon."[16]

As burlesque comedy material became progressively more ribald, Skelton moved on. He insisted that he was no prude; "I just didn't think the lines were funny". He became a sought-after master of ceremonies for dance marathons (known as "walkathons" at the time), a popular fad in the 1930s.[4][17] The winner of one of the marathons was Edna Stillwell, an usher at the old Pantages Theater.[18][19][d] She approached Skelton after winning the contest and told him that she did not like his jokes; he asked if she could do better.[23] They married in 1931 in Kansas City, and Edna began writing his material. At the time of their marriage Skelton was one month away from his 18th birthday; Edna was 16.[4][24] When they learned that Skelton's salary was to be cut, Edna went to see the boss; he resented the interference, until she came away with not only a raise, but additional considerations as well. Since he had left school at an early age, his wife bought textbooks and taught him what he had missed. With Edna's help, Skelton received a high school equivalency degree.[23][e]

The couple put together an act and began booking it at small midwestern theaters.[26] When an offer came for an engagement in Harwich Port, Massachusetts, some 2,000 miles from Kansas City, they were pleased to get it because of its proximity to their ultimate goal, the vaudeville houses of New York City. To get to Massachusetts they bought a used car and borrowed five dollars from Edna's mother, but by the time they arrived in St. Louis they had only fifty cents. Skelton asked Edna to collect empty cigarette packs; she thought he was joking, but did as he asked. He then spent their fifty cents on bars of soap, which they cut into small cubes and wrapped with the tinfoil from the cigarette packs. By selling their products for fifty cents each as fog remover for eyeglasses, the Skeltons were able to afford a hotel room every night as they worked their way to Harwich Port.[16]

Skelton and Edna worked for a year in Camden, New Jersey, and were able to get an engagement at Montreal's Lido Club in 1934 through a friend who managed the chorus lines at New York's Roxy Theatre.[16] Despite an initial rocky start, the act was a success, and brought them more theater dates throughout Canada.[4][f]

Skelton's performances in Canada led to new opportunities and the inspiration for a new, innovative routine that brought him recognition in the years to come. While performing in Montreal, the Skeltons met Harry Anger, a vaudeville producer for New York City's Loew's State Theatre. Anger promised the pair a booking as a headlining act at Loew's, but they would need to come up with new material for the engagement. While the Skeltons were having breakfast in a Montreal diner, Edna had an idea for a new routine as she and Skelton observed the other patrons eating doughnuts and drinking coffee. They devised the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine, with Skelton's visual impressions of how different people ate doughnuts.[g] The skit won them the Loew's State engagement and a handsome fee.[26][29]

The couple viewed the Loew's State engagement in 1937 as Skelton's big chance. They hired New York comedy writers to prepare material for the engagement, believing they needed more sophisticated jokes and skits than the routines Skelton normally performed. However, his New York audience did not laugh or applaud until Skelton abandoned the newly written material and began performing the "Doughnut Dunkers" and his older routines.[4][h] The doughnut-dunking routine also helped Skelton rise to celebrity status. In 1937, while he was entertaining at the Capitol Theater in Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Skelton to perform at a White House luncheon. During one of the official toasts, Skelton grabbed Roosevelt's glass, saying, "Careful what you drink, Mr. President. I got rolled in a place like this once." His humor appealed to FDR and Skelton became the master of ceremonies for Roosevelt's official birthday celebration for many years afterward.[30]

Skelton's first contact with Hollywood came in the form of a failed 1932 screen test. In 1938 he made his film debut for RKO Pictures in the supporting role of a camp counselor in Having Wonderful Time.[31] He appeared in two short subjects for Vitaphone in 1939: Seeing Red and The Broadway Buckaroo.[2][32] Actor Mickey Rooney contacted Skelton, urging him to try for work in films after seeing him perform his "Doughnut Dunkers" act at President Roosevelt's 1940 birthday party.[33][34] For his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer screen test, Skelton performed many of his more popular skits, such as "Guzzler's Gin", but added some impromptu pantomimes as the cameras were rolling. "Imitation of Movie Heroes Dying" were Skelton's impressions of the cinema deaths of stars like George Raft, Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney.[30][35]

In 1943, after a memorable role as a nightclub hatcheck attendant who becomes King Louis XV of France in a dream opposite Lucille Ball and Gene Kelly in Roy Del Ruth's Du Barry Was a Lady,[43][44] Skelton starred as Joseph Rivington Reynolds, a hotel valet besotted with Broadway starlet Constance Shaw (Powell) in Vincente Minnelli's romantic musical comedy, I Dood It. The film was largely a remake of Buster Keaton's Spite Marriage; Keaton, who had become a comedy consultant to MGM after his film career had diminished, began coaching Skelton on set during the filming. Keaton worked in this capacity on several of Skelton's films, and his 1926 film The General was also later rewritten to become Skelton's A Southern Yankee (1948), under directors S. Sylvan Simon and Edward Sedgwick.[45][46][47] Keaton was convinced enough of Skelton's comedic talent that he approached MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer with a request to create a small company within MGM for himself and Skelton, where the two could work on film projects. Keaton offered to forgo his salary if the films made by the company were not box office hits; Mayer chose to decline the request.[48] In 1944, Skelton starred opposite Esther Williams in George Sidney's musical comedy Bathing Beauty, playing a songwriter with romantic difficulties. He next had a relatively minor role as a "TV announcer who, in the course of demonstrating a brand of gin, progresses from mild inebriation through messy drunkenness to full-blown stupor" in the "When Television Comes" segment of Ziegfeld Follies, which featured William Powell and Judy Garland in the main roles.[49] In 1946, Skelton played boastful clerk J. Aubrey Piper opposite Marilyn Maxwell and Marjorie Main in Harry Beaumont's comedy picture The Show-Off.[50]

Skelton's imprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, June 18, 1942.[51] His wife, Edna, is on his left. Skelton also imprinted "Junior's" shoes along with the message, "We Dood It!". Theater owner Sid Grauman is in foreground of photo.

Skelton's contract called for MGM's approval prior to his radio shows and other appearances.[52] When he renegotiated his long-term contract with MGM, he wanted a clause that permitted him to remain working in radio and to be able to work on television, which was then largely experimental. At the time, the major work in the medium was centered in New York; Skelton had worked there for some time and was able to determine that he would find success with his physical comedy through the medium.[36][i] By 1947, Skelton's work interests were focused not on films, but on radio and television. His MGM contract was rigid enough to require the studio's written consent for his weekly radio shows, as well as any benefit or similar appearances he made; radio offered fewer restrictions, more creative control and a higher salary.[52][54] Skelton asked for a release from MGM after learning he could not raise the $750,000 needed to buy out the remainder of his contract.[52] He also voiced frustration with the film scripts he was offered while on the set of The Fuller Brush Man, saying, "Movies are not my field. Radio and television are."[55][j] He did not receive the desired television clause nor a release from his MGM contract.[58] In 1948, columnist Sheilah Graham printed that Skelton's wishes were to make only one film a year, spending the rest of the time traveling the U.S. with his radio show.[37]

Skelton's ability to successfully ad-lib often meant that the way the script was written was not always the way it was recorded on film. Some directors were delighted with the creativity, but others were often frustrated by it.[k] S. Sylvan Simon, who became a close friend, allowed Skelton free rein when directing him.[60][61] MGM became annoyed with Simon during the filming of The Fuller Brush Man, as the studio contended that Skelton should have been playing romantic leads instead of performing slapstick. Simon and MGM parted company when he was not asked to direct retakes of Skelton's A Southern Yankee; Simon asked that his name be removed from the film's credits.[47][62]

Performing the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine led to Skelton's first appearance on Rudy Vallée's The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour on August 12, 1937. Vallée's program had a talent show segment and those who were searching for stardom were eager to be heard on it. Vallée also booked veteran comic and fellow Indiana native Joe Cook to appear as a guest with Skelton. The two Hoosiers proceeded to trade jokes about their home towns, with Skelton contending to Cook, an Evansville native, that the city was a suburb of Vincennes. The show received enough fan mail after the performance to invite both comedians back two weeks after Skelton's initial appearance and again in November of that year.[73]

On October 1, 1938, Skelton replaced Red Foley as the host of Avalon Time on NBC; Edna also joined the show's cast, under her maiden name.[74][l] She developed a system for working with the show's writers: selecting material from them, adding her own and filing the unused bits and lines for future use; the Skeltons worked on Avalon Time until late 1939.[76][77] Skelton's work in films led to a new regular radio show offer; between films, he promoted himself and MGM by appearing without charge at Los Angeles area banquets. A radio advertising agent was a guest at one of his banquet performances and recommended Skelton to one of his clients.[34]

Skelton went on the air with his own radio show, The Raleigh Cigarette Program, on October 7, 1941. The bandleader for the show was Ozzie Nelson; his wife, Harriet, who worked under her maiden name of Hilliard, was the show's vocalist and also worked with Skelton in skits.[78]

Skelton introduced the first two of his many characters during The Raleigh Cigarette Program's first season. The character of Clem Kadiddlehopper was based on a Vincennes neighbor named Carl Hopper, who was hard of hearing.[m] Skelton's voice pattern for Clem was similar to the later cartoon character, Bullwinkle; there was enough similarity to cause Skelton to contemplate filing a lawsuit against Bill Scott, who voiced the cartoon moose.[80] The second character, The Mean Widdle Kid, or "Junior", was a young boy full of mischief, who typically did things he was told not to do. "Junior" would say things like, "If I dood it, I gets a whipping.", followed moments later by the statement, "I dood it!"[80] Skelton performed the character at home with Edna, giving him the nickname "Junior" long before it was heard by a radio audience.[81] While the phrase was Skelton's, the idea of using the character on the radio show was Edna's.[82] Skelton starred in a 1943 movie of the same name, but did not play "Junior" in the film.[83]

The phrase was such a part of national culture at the time that, when General Doolittle conducted the bombing of Tokyo in 1942, many newspapers used the phrase "Doolittle Dood It" as a headline.[34][84][85] After a talk with President Roosevelt in 1943, Skelton used his radio show to collect funds for a Douglas A-20 Havoc to be given to the Soviet Army to help fight World War II. Asking children to send in their spare change, he raised enough money for the aircraft in two weeks; he named the bomber "We Dood It!"[86] In 1986 the Soviet newspaper Pravda offered praise to Skelton for his 1943 gift, and in 1993, the pilot of the plane was able to meet Skelton and thank him for the bomber.[87][88][n]

Skelton also added a routine he had been performing since 1928. Originally called "Mellow Cigars", the skit entailed an announcer who became ill as he smoked his sponsor's product. Brown and Williamson, the makers of cigarettes, asked Skelton to change some aspects of the skit; he renamed the routine "Guzzler's Gin", where the announcer became inebriated while sampling and touting the imaginary sponsor's wares.[89] While the traditional radio program called for its cast to do an audience warm-up in preparation for the broadcast, Skelton did just the opposite. After the regular radio program had ended, the show's guests were treated to a post-program performance. He would then perform his "Guzzler's Gin" or any of more than 350 routines for those who had come to the radio show. He updated and revised his post-show routines as diligently as those for his radio program. As a result, studio audience tickets for Skelton's radio show were in high demand; there were times where up to 300 people needed to be turned away for lack of seats.[30][90]

In 1942, Edna announced that she was leaving Skelton but would continue to manage his career and write material for him. He did not realize she was serious until Edna issued a statement about the impending divorce through NBC.[91] They were divorced in 1943, leaving the courtroom arm in arm.[92][93] The couple did not discuss the reasons for their divorce and Edna initially prepared to work as a script writer for other radio programs. When the divorce was finalized, she went to New York, leaving her former husband three fully prepared show scripts. Skelton and those associated with him sent telegrams and called her, asking her to come back to him in a professional capacity.[94][95][o] Edna remained the manager of the couple's funds because Skelton spent money too easily. An attempt at managing his own checking account that began with a $5,000 balance, ended five days later after a call to Edna saying the account was overdrawn. Skelton had a weekly allowance of $75, with Edna making investments for him, choosing real estate and other relatively stable assets.[30] She remained an advisor on his career until 1952, receiving a generous weekly salary for life for her efforts.[97]

The Skeltons, circa 1957. Back from left: Red, wife Georgia, sister in law Maxine Davis. Front: Son Richard and daughter Valentina

The divorce meant that Skelton had lost his married man's deferment; he was once again classified as 1-A for service. He was drafted into the army in early 1944; both MGM and his radio sponsor tried to obtain a deferment for the comedian, but to no avail.[98] His last Raleigh radio show was on June 6, 1944, the day before he was formally inducted as a private; he was not assigned to Special Services at that time. Without its star, the program was discontinued, and the opportunity presented itself for the Nelsons to begin a radio show of their own, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.[38][99]

By 1944, Skelton was engaged to actress Muriel Morris, who was also known as Muriel Chase; the couple had obtained a marriage license and told the press they intended to marry within a few days. At the last minute, the actress decided not to marry him, initially saying she intended to marry a wealthy businessman in Mexico City. She later recanted the story about marrying the businessman, but continued to say that her relationship with Skelton was over. The actress further denied that the reason for the breakup was Edna's continuing to manage her ex-husband's career; Edna stated that she had no intention of either getting in the middle of the relationship or reconciling with her former husband.[100][101]
He was on army furlough for throat discomfort when he married actress Georgia Maureen Davis in Beverly Hills, California, on March 9, 1945; the couple met on the MGM lot.[92][102][p] Skelton traveled to Los Angeles from the eastern army base where he was assigned for the wedding. He knew he would possibly be assigned overseas soon and wanted the marriage to take place first.[105] After the wedding, he entered the hospital to have his tonsils removed.[106][107] The couple had two children; Valentina, a daughter, was born May 5, 1947, and a son, Richard, was born May 20, 1948.[108][103][109]

Skelton served in the United States Army during World War II. After being assigned to the Special Services, Skelton performed as many as ten to twelve shows per day before troops in both the United States and in Europe. The pressure of his workload caused him to suffer exhaustion and a nervous breakdown.[2][38] His nervous collapse while in the army left him with a serious stuttering problem. While recovering at an army hospital at Camp Pickett, Virginia, he met a soldier who had been severely wounded and was not expected to survive. Skelton devoted a lot of time and effort to trying to make the man laugh. As a result of this effort, his stuttering problem was cured; his army friend's condition also improved and he was no longer on the critical list.[111] He was released from his army duties in September 1945.[38][112] "I've been told I'm the only celebrity who entered the Army as a private and came out a private," he told reporters.[113] His sponsor was eager to have him back on the air, and Skelton's program began anew on NBC on December 4, 1945.[99][114]

Upon returning to radio, Skelton brought with him many new characters that were added to his repertoire: Bolivar Shagnasty, described as a "loudmouthed braggart"; Cauliflower McPugg, a boxer; Deadeye, a cowboy; Willie Lump-Lump, a fellow who drank too much; and San Fernando Red, a conman with political aspirations.[115] By 1947, Skelton's musical conductor was David Rose, who would go on to television with him; he had worked with Rose during his time in the army and wanted Rose to join him on the radio show when it went back on the air.[116]

On April 22, 1947, Skelton was censored by NBC two minutes into his radio show. When he and his announcer Rod O'Connor began talking about Fred Allen being censored the previous week, they were silenced for 15 seconds; comedian Bob Hope was given the same treatment once he began referring to the censoring of Allen.[q] Skelton forged on with his lines for his studio audience's benefit; the material he insisted on using had been edited from the script by the network before the broadcast. He had been briefly censored the previous month for the use of the word "diaper". After the April incidents, NBC indicated it would no longer pull the plug for similar reasons.[118][119]

Skelton changed sponsors in 1948; Brown & Williamson, owners of Raleigh cigarettes, withdrew due to program production costs. His new sponsor was Procter & Gamble's Tide laundry detergent. The next year he changed networks, going from NBC to CBS, where his radio show aired until May 1953.[120][121] After his network radio contract was over, he signed a three-year contract with Ziv Radio for a syndicated radio program in 1954.[122] His syndicated radio program was offered as a daily show; it included segments of his older network radio programs as well as new material done for the syndication. He was able to use portions of his older radio shows because he owned the rights for rebroadcasting them.[71][123]

Skelton was unable to work in television until the end of his 1951 MGM movie contract; a renegotiation to extend the pact provided permission after that point.[58][63] He signed a contract for television on NBC with Procter and Gamble as his sponsor on May 4, 1951, and said he would be performing the same characters on television as he had been doing on radio.[124][125] The MGM agreement with Skelton for television performances did not allow him to go on the air before September 30, 1951.[126] His television debut, The Red Skelton Show, premiered on that date: at the end of his opening monologue, two men backstage grabbed his ankles from behind the set curtain, hauling him offstage face down.[127][r] A 1943 instrumental hit by David Rose, called "Holiday for Strings", became Skelton's TV theme song.[128] The move to television allowed him to create two non-human characters, seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe, which he performed while the pair were flying by tucking his thumbs under his arms to represent wings and shaping his hat to look like a bird's bill.[129][130][131] He patterned his meek, henpecked television character of George Appleby after his radio character, J. Newton Numbskull, who had similar characteristics.[s] His "Freddie the Freeloader" clown was introduced on the program in 1952, with Skelton copying his father's makeup for the character. He learned how to duplicate his father's makeup and perform his routines through his mother's recollections.[13][133][134] A ritual became established at the end of every program, with Skelton's shy boyish wave and words of, "Good night and may God bless."[2][135][t]

Skelton as Willie Lump-Lump and Shirley Mitchell as his wife, who appears to be walking on the wall in a 1952 Skelton show sketch.

During the 1951–1952 season, the program was broadcast from a converted NBC radio studio.[138] The first year of the television show was done live; this led to problems as there was not enough time for costume changes; Skelton was on camera for most of the half-hour, including the delivery of a commercial which was written into one of the show's skits.[139][140] In early 1952, Skelton had an idea for a television sketch about someone who had been drinking not being able to know which way is up. The script was completed and he had the show's production crew build a set that was perpendicular to the stage, so it would give the illusion that someone was walking on walls. The skit, starring his character Willie Lump-Lump, called for the character's wife to hire a carpenter to re-do the living room in an effort to teach her husband a lesson about his drinking. When Willie wakes up there after a night of drinking, he realizes he is not lying on the floor but on the living room wall. Willie's wife goes about the house normally, but to Willie, she appears to be walking on a wall. Within an hour after the broadcast, the NBC switchboard had received 350 calls regarding the show, and Skelton had received more than 2,500 letters about the skit within a week of its airing.[141]

Skelton was delivering an intense performance live each week, and the strain showed in physical illness. In 1952, he was drinking heavily from the constant pain of a diaphragmatichernia and marital problems; he thought about divorcing Georgia.[142][143][u] NBC agreed to film his shows in the 1952–1953 season at Eagle Lion Studios, next to the Sam Goldwyn Studio, on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.[146] Later the show was moved to the new NBC television studios in Burbank. Procter & Gamble was unhappy with the filming of the television show, and insisted that Skelton return to live broadcasts. The situation caused him to think about leaving television at that point.[147][148] Declining ratings prompted sponsor Procter & Gamble to cancel his show in the spring of 1953, with Skelton announcing that any future television shows of his would be variety shows, where he would not have the almost constant burden of performing.[149] Beginning with the 1953–1954 season, he switched to CBS, where he remained until 1970.[150] For the initial move to CBS, he had no sponsor. The network gambled by covering all expenses for the program on a sustaining basis; his first CBS sponsor was Geritol.[151][152] He curtailed his drinking and his ratings at CBS began to improve, especially after he began appearing on Tuesday nights for co-sponsors Johnson's Wax and Pet Milk Company.[153]

By 1955, Skelton was broadcasting some of his weekly programs in color, which was the case approximately 100 times
between 1955 and 1960.[154] He tried to encourage CBS to do other shows in color at the facility, but CBS mostly avoided color broadcasting after the network's television set manufacturing division was discontinued in 1951.[155][v] By 1959, Skelton was the only comedian with a weekly variety television show; others who remained on the air, such as Danny Thomas, were performing their routines as part of situation comedy programs.[156][157] He performed a preview show for a studio audience on Mondays, using their reactions to determine which skits needed to be edited for the Tuesday program. For the Tuesday afternoon run-through prior to the actual show, he ignored the script for the most part, ad-libbing through it at will. The run-through was well attended by CBS Television City employees[132] Sometimes during sketches, both live telecasts and taped programs, Skelton would break up or cause his guest stars to laugh.[2][158][w]

Skelton and Mickey Rooney at dress rehearsal for The Red Skelton Show of January 15, 1957. Skelton as a sailor and Rooney as his wife play contestants on a parody of Do You Trust Your Wife?. This was Skelton's return to television after his son Richard's leukemia diagnosis.

At the height of Skelton's popularity, his nine-year-old son Richard was diagnosed with leukemia and was given a year to live.[161][162] While the network told him to take as much time off as necessary, Skelton felt that until he went back to his television show, he would be unable to be at ease and make his son's life a happy one.[163] He returned to his television show on January 15, 1957, with guest star Mickey Rooney helping to lift his spirits.[164] In happier times, he frequently mentioned his children on his program, but found it extremely difficult to do so after Richard became ill. Skelton resumed this practice only after his son had asked him to do so.[165][166] After his son's diagnosis, Skelton took his family on an extended trip, so Richard could see as much of the world as possible. When they arrived in London, there were press accusations that the trip was more about publicity than his seriously ill son. There were also newspaper reports about Richard's illness being fatal, which were seen by the boy.[167] The family returned to the United States after the British press stories.[168][169]

The Skelton family received support from CBS management and from the public following the announcement of Richard's illness.[163] Skelton himself was beset by a serious illness and by a household accident which kept him off the air.[170] He suffered a life-threatening asthma attack on December 30, 1957, and was taken to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, where his doctors said that "if there were ten steps to death, Red Skelton had taken nine of them by the time he had arrived".[x] Initially hospitalized for an indeterminate length of time, Skelton later said he was working on some notes for television and the next thing he remembered, he was in a hospital bed; he did not know how serious his illness was until he read about it himself in the newspapers.[172][173] His illness and recovery kept him off the air for a full month; Skelton returned to his television show on January 28, 1958.[174][175]

Richard died on May 10, 1958; it was ten days before the child's tenth birthday.[176][177] Skelton was scheduled to do his weekly television show on the day his son was buried. Though there were recordings of some older programs available which the network could have run, he asked that guest performers be used instead.[178] Calling themselves The Friends of Red Skelton, his friends in the television, film and music industries organized The Friends Of Red Skelton Variety Show, which they performed to replace The Red Skelton Show for that week; by May 27, 1958, Skelton had returned to his program.[179][180][181] The death of Richard profoundly affected the family; by 1961 Richard's model trains had been moved to a storeroom in the Bel Air mansion, but Skelton refused to have them dismantled.[182] In 1962, the Skelton family moved to Palm Springs, and Skelton used the Bel Air home only on the two days a week when he was in Los Angeles for his television show taping.[183][184][185]

In early 1960, Skelton purchased the old Charlie Chaplin Studios and updated it for videotape recording.[186][187] With a recently purchased three-truck mobile color television unit, he recorded a number of his series episodes and specials in color. Even with his color facilities, CBS discontinued color broadcasts on a regular basis and Skelton shortly thereafter sold the studio to CBS and the mobile unit to local station, KTLA.[188][y] Prior to this, he had been filming at Desilu Productions.[190] Skelton then moved back to the network's Television City facilities, where he resumed taping his programs until he left the network. In the fall of 1962, CBS expanded his program to a full hour, retitling it The Red Skelton Hour.[191] While a staple of his radio programs, he did not perform his "Junior" character on television until 1962, after extending the length of his program.[192]

Skelton frequently employed the art of pantomime for his characters: a segment of his weekly program was called the "Silent Spot" and the sketch was performed in pantomime.[193] He attributed his use of pantomime and few props to his early days when he did not want to have a lot of luggage, so he crafted routines that used few of them.[194] He explained that the right hat was the key to his being able to get into character.[140][195]

Skelton's season premiere for the 1960–1961 television season was a tribute to the United Nations. Six hundred people from the organization, including diplomats, were invited to be part of the audience for the show. The program was entirely done in pantomime, as UN representatives from 39 nations were in the studio audience.[196] One of the sketches he performed for the UN was that of the old man watching the parade. The sketch had its origins in a question Skelton's son, Richard, asked his father about what happens when people die. He told his son, "They join a parade and start marching."[182][197] In 1965, Skelton did another show in complete pantomime. This time he was joined by Marcel Marceau; the two artists alternated performances for the hour-long program, sharing the stage to perform Pinocchio. The only person who spoke during the hour was Maurice Chevalier, who served as the show's narrator.[198][199]

In 1969, Skelton performed a self-written monologue about the Pledge of Allegiance. In the speech, he commented on the meaning of each phrase of the pledge. He credited one of his Vincennes grammar school teachers, Mr. Laswell, with the original speech.[200][z] The teacher had grown tired of hearing his students monotonously recite the pledge each morning; he then demonstrated to them how it should be recited, along with comments about the meaning behind each phrase.[7][202] CBS received 200,000 requests for copies; the company subsequently released the monologue as a single on Columbia Records.[203] A year later, he performed the monologue for President Richard Nixon at the first "Evening at the White House", a series of entertainment events honoring the recently inaugurated president.[204]

As the 1970s began, the networks began a major campaign to discontinue long-running shows that they considered stale or lacking youth appeal. Despite Skelton's continued strong ratings, CBS saw his show as fitting into this category and cancelled the program along with other comedy and variety shows hosted by veterans such as Jackie Gleason and Ed Sullivan.[205][206] Performing in Las Vegas when he got the news of his CBS cancellation, Skelton said, "My heart has been broken."[2] His program had been one of the top ten highest rated shows for 17 of the 20 years he was on television.[207] Skelton moved to NBC in 1970 in a half-hour Monday night version of his former show.[58] Its cancellation after one season ended his television career, and he returned to live performances.[208] In an effort to prove the networks wrong, he gave many of these at colleges and proved popular with the audience.[2][89]
Skelton was bitter about CBS's cancellation for many years afterwards.[205] Believing the demographic and salary issues to be irrelevant, he accused CBS of bowing to the anti-establishment, anti-war faction at the height of the Vietnam War, saying his conservative political and social views caused the network to turn against him.[7][aa] He had invited prominent Republicans, including Vice President Spiro Agnew and Senate Republican Leader Everett Dirksen, to appear on his program.[ab][ac]

There were personal as well as professional changes taking place in Skelton's life at this time. He divorced Georgia in 1971 and married Lothian Toland, daughter of cinematographerGregg Toland, on October 7, 1973.[215][216][217] While he disassociated himself from television soon after his show was cancelled, his bitterness had subsided enough for him to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on July 11, 1975; it was his first television appearance since he no longer had a television program. Johnny Carson, one of his former writers, began his rise to network television prominence by substituting for Skelton after his dress rehearsal injury in 1954.[218][ad] Skelton was also a guest on The Merv Griffin Show in October of the same year.[218] Any hopes he may have had to ease back into television through the talk show circuit came to an abrupt halt on May 10, 1976, when Georgia Skelton committed suicide by gunshot on the 18th anniversary of Richard Skelton's death.[218][221][ae] Georgia was 54 and had been in poor health for some time.[225][226] He put all professional activities on hold for some months as he mourned his former wife's death.[218]

Skelton made plans in 1977 to sell the rights to his old television programs as part of a package which would bring him back to regular television appearances. The package called for him to produce one new television show for every three older episodes; this appears to not have materialized.[210] In 1980, he was taken to court by 13 of his former writers over a story that his will called for the destruction of recordings of all his old television shows upon his death.[5][227][af] Skelton contended his remarks were made at a time when he was very unhappy with the television industry and were taken out of context. He said at the time, "Would you burn the only monument you've built in over 20 years?"[205][228] As the owner of the television shows, Skelton initially refused to allow them to be syndicated as reruns during his lifetime.[28][205][ag] In 1983, Group W announced that it had come to terms with him for the rights to rebroadcast some of his original television programs from 1966 through 1970; some of his earlier shows were made available after Skelton's death.[158][229]

Skelton's 70-year career as an entertainer began as a stage performer. He retained a fondness for theaters, and referred to them as "palaces"; he also likened them to his "living room", where he would privately entertain guests.[230][231] At the end of a performance, he would look at the empty stage where there was now no laughter or applause and tell himself, "Tomorrow I must start again. One hour ago, I was a big man. I was important out there. Now it's empty. It's all gone."[232]

Skelton was invited to play a four-week date at the London Palladium in July 1951.[233] While flying to the engagement, Skelton, Georgia and Father Edward J. Carney, were on a plane from Rome with passengers from an assortment of countries that included 11 children. The plane lost the use of two of its four engines and seemed destined to lose the rest,[234] meaning that the plane would crash over Mont Blanc. The priest readied himself to administer last rites. As he did so, he told Skelton, "You take care of your department, Red, and I'll take care of mine." Skelton diverted the attention of the passengers with pantomimes while Father Carney prayed. They ultimately landed at a small airstrip in Lyon, France.[235][236] He received both an enthusiastic reception and an invitation to return for the Palladium's Christmas show of that year.[237]

Though Skelton had always done live engagements at Nevada hotels and appearances such as state fairs during his television show's hiatus, he focused his time and energy on live performances after he was no longer on the air, performing up to 125 dates a year.[232] He often arrived days early for his engagement and would serve as his own promotion staff, making the rounds of the local shopping malls.[207] Before the show, his audiences received a ballot listing about 100 of his many routines and were asked to tick off their favorites. The venue's ushers would collect the ballots and tally the votes. Skelton's performance on that given day was based on the skits his audience selected.[11] After he learned that his performances were popular with the hearing-impaired because of his heavy use of pantomimes, Skelton hired a sign language interpreter to translate the non-pantomime portions of his act for all his shows.[238] He continued performing live until 1993, when he celebrated his 80th birthday.[239]

In 1974, Skelton's interest in film work was rekindled with the news that Neil Simon's comedy The Sunshine Boys would become a movie; his last significant film appearance had been in Public Pigeon No. 1 in 1956. He screen tested for the role of Willy Clark with Jack Benny, who had been cast as Al Lewis.[240] Although Simon had planned to cast Jack Albertson, who played Willy on Broadway, in the same role for the film, Skelton's screen test impressed him enough to change his mind.[241] Skelton declined the part, however, reportedly due to an inadequate financial offer,[240][242] and Benny's final illness forced him to withdraw as well. George Burns and Walter Matthau ultimately starred in the film.[243][244][ah]

Skelton began producing artwork in 1943, but kept his works private for many years. He said he was inspired to try his hand at painting after visiting a large Chicago department store that had various paintings on display. Inquiring as to the price of one which Skelton described as "a bunch of blotches", he was told, "Ten thousand wouldn't buy that one." He told the clerk he was one of the ten thousand who would not buy the painting, instead buying his own art materials. His wife Georgia, a former art student, persuaded him to have his first public showing of his work in 1964 at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas where he was performing at the time.[257][258] Skelton believed painting was an asset to his comedy work, as it helped him to better visualize the imaginary props used in his pantomime routines.[185]

In addition to his originals, Skelton also sold reproductions and prints through his own mail order business.[194] He made his work available to art galleries by selling them franchises to display and sell his paintings.[28] He once estimated the sale of his lithographs earned him $2.5 million per year.[2][aj] Shortly after his death, his art dealer said he believed that Skelton made more money on his paintings than from his television work.[259] At the time of his death, Skelton had produced over 1,000 oil paintings of clowns. When asked why his artwork focused on clowns, he said at first, "I don't know why it's always clowns." He continued after thinking a moment by saying "No, that's not true—I do know why. I just don't feel like thinking about it ..."[4][ak] At the time of Skelton's death, his originals were priced at $80,000 and upward.[261]

Skelton was a prolific writer of both short stories and music. After sleeping only four or five hours a night, he would wake up at 5 a.m. and begin writing stories, composing music, and painting pictures. He wrote at least one short story a week and had composed over 8,000 songs and symphonies by the time of his death.[262] He wrote commercials for Skoal tobacco and sold many of his compositions to Muzak, a company that specialized in providing background music to stores and other businesses.[5] Skelton was also interested in photography; when attending Hollywood parties, he would take photos and give the film to newspaper reporters waiting outside.[263] He was never without a miniature camera and kept a photographic record of all his paintings.[185] Skelton was also an avid gardener who created his own Japanese and Italian gardens and cultivated bonsai trees at his home in Palm Springs, California.[264][265]

Skelton was a Freemason, a member of Vincennes Lodge No. 1, in Indiana. He also was a member of both the Scottish and the York Rite.[266] He was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the General Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Sciences. On September 24, 1969, he received the honorary 33rd degree in the Scottish Rite and was a Gourgas Medal recipient in 1995.[266][267] Skelton became interested in Masonry as a small boy selling newspapers in Vincennes, when a man bought a paper from him with a five dollar bill and told him to keep the change. The young Skelton asked his benefactor why he had given him so much money; the man explained that he was a Mason and Masons are taught to give. Skelton decided to become one also when he was grown.[268] He was also member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,[269] as well as a Shriner in Los Angeles.[266]

Skelton was made an honorary brother of Phi Sigma Kappa at Truman State University.[270] In 1961 he became an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau Fraternity of Emerson College when he was awarded the Joseph E. Connor Award for excellence in the field of communications. He also received an honorary degree from the college at the same ceremony.[271] Skelton received an honorary high school diploma from Vincennes High School.[272] He was also an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity; Skelton had composed many marches which were used by more than 10,000 high school and college bands.[25][273] In 1986, Skelton received an honorary degree from Ball State University.[274]

Skelton's first major post-television recognition came in 1978, when the Golden Globe Awards named him as the recipient for their Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is given to honor outstanding contributions in entertainment. His excitement was so great upon receiving the award and a standing ovation, that he clutched it tightly enough to break the statuette.[280] When he was presented with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Governor's Award in 1986, Skelton received a standing ovation. "I want to thank you for sitting down", he said when the ovation subsided. "I thought you were pulling a CBS and walking out on me."[2][281] The honor came 16 years after his television program left the airwaves.[207]

Skelton preferred to be described as a clown rather than a comic: "A comedian goes out and hits people right on. A clown uses pathos. He can be funny, then turn right around and reach people and touch them with what life is like."[209] "I just want to be known as a clown", he said, "because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can do everything—sing, dance and above all, make people laugh."[2][289] His purpose in life, he believed, was to make people laugh.[182]

In Groucho and Me, Groucho Marx called Skelton "the most unacclaimed clown in show business", and "the logical successor to [Charlie] Chaplin", largely because of his ability to play a multitude of characters with minimal use of dialogue and props. "With one prop, a soft battered hat", Groucho wrote, describing a performance he had witnessed, "he successfully converted himself into an idiot boy, a peevish old lady, a teetering-tottering drunk, an overstuffed clubwoman, a tramp, and any other character that seemed to suit his fancy. No grotesque make-up, no funny clothes, just Red." He added that Skelton also "plays a dramatic scene about as effectively as any of the dramatic actors."[205][290] In late 1965 ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, reminiscing about the entertainment business, singled out Skelton for high praise. "It's all so very different today. The whole business of comedy has changed — from 15 minutes of quality to quantity. We had a lot of very funny people around, from Charley Chase to Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. The last one of that breed is Red Skelton."[291]Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures also praised Skelton, saying, "He's a clown in the old tradition. He doesn't need punch lines. He's got heart."[207]

Skelton performing with Marcel Marceau, 1965; the two were friends for many years.

Skelton and Marcel Marceau shared a long friendship and admiration of each other's work. Marceau appeared on Skelton's CBS television show three times, including one turn as the host in 1961 as Skelton recovered from surgery.[248] He was also a guest on the three Funny Faces specials that Skelton produced for HBO.[292] In a TV Guide interview after Skelton's death, Marceau said, "Red, you are eternal for me and the millions of people you made laugh and cry. May God bless you forever, my great and precious companion. I will never forget that silent world we created together."[293] CBS issued the following statement upon his death: "Red's audience had no age limits. He was the consummate family entertainer—a winsome clown, a storyteller without peer, a superb mime, a singer and a dancer."[252]

The Red Skelton Performing Arts Center was dedicated in February 2006 on the campus of Vincennes University, one block from the home in Vincennes where Skelton was born.[294][295] The building includes an 850-seat theater, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and dressing rooms. Its grand foyer is a gallery for Skelton's paintings, statues, and film posters.[296] The theater hosts theatrical and musical productions by Vincennes University, as well as special events, convocations and conventions.[294] The adjacent Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy opened on July 18, 2013, on what would have been Skelton's 100th birthday.[297][298] It houses his personal and professional materials, which he had collected since the age of ten, in accordance with his wishes that they be made available in his hometown for the public's enjoyment. Skelton's widow, Lothian, noted that he expressed no interest in any sort of Hollywood memorial.[296][al] The museum is funded jointly by the Red Skelton Museum Foundation and the Indiana Historical Society.[300][301][302] Other Foundation projects include a fund that provides new clothes to Vincennes children from low-income families.[296] The Foundation also purchased Skelton's birthplace.[296][303] On July 15, 2017, the state of Indiana unveiled a state historic marker at the home in Vincennes where Skelton was born.[304][305]

The town of Vincennes has held an annual Red Skelton Festival since 2005. A "Parade of a Thousand Clowns", billed as the largest clown parade in the Midwest, is followed by family-oriented activities and live music performances.[306][307]

In 2006, Travis Tarrants purchased the historic Vincennes Pantheon Theatre, where Skelton performed during his youth. He established a non-profit organization with the hope of restoring the theatre to its 1921 state.[308] Tarrants was able to raise close to $300,000 for the restoration. Two years later, donations for the project plummeted. Tarrants lost the theatre to unpaid back taxes in 2012 and the new owner was realtor Heath Klein. In late 2014, Klein sold the theatre property to a Vincennes non-profit group, INVin. The organization works to bring arts and arts-related businesses into downtown Vincennes.[309] In March 2016, the group proposed to turn the theatre into shared workspace.[310]

^Skelton's birth certificate lists him as Richard Bernard Eheart. The Eheart surname comes from Joseph's stepfather, and it appears that Joseph also used his stepfather's surname at times.[1] In a 1983 appearance on The Tonight Show, Skelton said his middle name was really "Red" and he had made up the middle name Bernard to satisfy a schoolteacher who would not believe his middle name was really "Red", although this story he presented in the comedy interview appearance does not match the reported content of his birth certificate. There is also an account of Skelton's using the birth certificate of one of his older brothers as proof that he was legally of age.[4]

^Hyatt also refers to a People magazine story published in 1980, where Skelton said he was in his seventies.[5]

^Skelton also told another version of this actor and young newsboy story, with Raymond Hitchcock as the actor.[9]

^Edna Stillwell had two marriages following her divorce from Skelton, first to director Frank Borzage and then to Leon George Pound.[20][21][22]

^Skelton became a well-read man with a fine memory which he began training in his youth.[25]

^Since much of Skelton's success had been in Canada at this point, many reviewers believed he was Canadian, calling him "a Canadian lad".[27]

^Skelton copyrighted the original "Doughnut Dunkers" routine and every possible variation of it.[28]

^The problem with doing the "Doughnut Dunkers" skit was that Skelton had to eat nine doughnuts at every performance. He was performing five times a day and eating 45 doughnuts. He gained nearly 35 pounds, and had to shelve the routine until he lost some weight.[26][29]

^Examples of pre-World War II television programming from WNBT, New York; the station is known as WNBC today.[53]

^Keaton became frustrated because of Skelton's focus on his radio program, while Skelton wanted better film scripts.[37][56] Gehring quotes Skelton's movies vs radio and television statement while on the set of The Fuller Brush Man as, "Movies are not my friend. Radio and television are."[37] In a 1948 interview, Skelton explained that his MGM salary was $2,000 weekly and that his radio salary was $8,000 per week. The cost of answering his MGM fan mail was billed to Skelton. When Skelton agreed to make appearances approved by MGM, he did not receive the fee for his work; it went to MGM, who continued to pay him the contracted $2,000 per week. Since Skelton's radio program participation was noted in his MGM contract, his radio show salary went to him and not to MGM.[57]

^Director Jack Donahue, who directed Watch the Birdie, commented about Skelton's tendency to ad-lib, "God help us all. If he manages to say it in English, write it down and we'll use it."[59]

^Avalon Time was broadcast from WLW in Cincinnati; during the time Skelton was part of the program, he and Edna traveled from Chicago to do the weekly show.[75]

^Carl Hopper was a contemporary and a boyhood friend of Skelton. Hopper, who was hearing-impaired, was often ridiculed or shunned because of his hearing problem. As a boy, Skelton made it a point to include Hopper in the activities of his childhood in Vincennes.[6]

^At their 1993 meeting, the former Soviet bomber pilot told Skelton he would have thanked him for the bomber some time ago, but a U.S. diplomat told him that Skelton was dead.[88]

^The couple cared deeply for each other, but for reasons known best to them both, could have a successful professional relationship, but not a marriage. Skelton can be seen in the film Whistling in the Dark dancing with one of his female co-stars with his fingers crossed. In a 1942 interview, he explained the reason for this, saying he only loved Edna and when he did romantic film scenes, he always crossed his fingers to indicate that the screen emotion was not real.[96] After his engagement to actress Muriel Morris ended, Skelton tried to persuade Edna to remarry him; he was not successful.[94]

^Skelton later referred to Georgia as "Little Red".[103]There is evidence that Skelton also referred to Edna Skelton by this nickname. A sketch by Skelton has a plaque reading "Red Skelton sketch of Wife Edna Skelton". The original is at the Red Skelton Museum Foundation in Vincennes, Indiana.[104]

^Fred Allen was censored when he referred to an imaginary NBC vice-president who was "in charge of program ends". He went on to explain to his audience that this vice-president saved these hours, minutes and seconds that radio programs ran over their allotted time until he had two weeks' worth of them and then used the time for a two-week vacation.[117]

^The comedic hard knocks took their toll; before Skelton had reached the age of 40, he needed leg braces and a cane for the cartilage that was destroyed in both of his knees.[2]

^After the death of Richard, Skelton performed the George Appleby character wearing his son's eyeglasses.[132]

^Skelton's original sign-off phrase was "God bless". When he came to believe it appeared he was commanding something of God, he added the word "may" to the sign-off.[136] In a 1978 interview, Skelton was asked about his frequent use of the phrase. His answer was, "I say "may God bless" to people because I want them to find the same happiness I've found. After all, God is good.".[137] In 1982, he was being interviewed in Wilmington, North Carolina, and declined a cameraman's request for a posed shot of him waving and saying the phrase. Skelton's explanation was that he felt doing it in this way would make it not genuine. "I don't use it as a gimmick. I mean it from the bottom of my heart."[135]

^Skelton had to be given oxygen to complete one of his live television programs in June 1952; his doctors ordered him to take a rest from all performing after his television show schedule ended later in the month.[144][145]

^One of his former writers called the laughter a "survival technique"; the script was on the floor out of camera range and this was where one looked when a line was forgotten.[159] Skelton also appeared to enjoy his material as much as his audience did. While breaking into laughter during a story in a live performance, Skelton tried to apologize by saying "I know what's coming!"[160]

^Earlier in the day, the Skeltons received some discouraging news about Richard's medical condition.[171]

^Columnist Hy Gardner requested a copy of Skelton's "Pledge of Allegiance" speech. Skelton sent him a copy of the monologue and granted permission for Gardner to print it in its entirety in his column.[201]

^Skelton also offered another reason for his CBS show's cancellation: that the network had asked him and Jackie Gleason to shift their family-oriented comedy toward racier scripts, and that both he and Gleason turned them down.[209][210]

^Agnew was a special guest and introduced Skelton on the premiere of his NBC Television show on September 14, 1970.[214]

^When Skelton was injured during a rehearsal and admitted to a hospital, the live television program had lost its star two hours before its scheduled air time. Carson was selected to fill in for Skelton and earned the praise of television writers for his impromptu work. This was the beginning of Carson's career as a network television performer.[219][220]

^In 1966, Georgia Skelton was wounded in a shooting at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas while her husband was performing in the main showroom. Valentina Skelton and her boyfriend heard the gunshot; Georgia was found in the bedroom, surprised and confused about what had happened. Georgia did not feel safe without a gun and the couple brought it to Las Vegas with them. The Clark County Sheriff declared the shooting to be accidental.[222][223] Gehring refers to Georgia's shooting in Las Vegas as a suicide attempt in an interview with Valentina Skelton.[224]

^The People magazine story goes on to say that Skelton was willing to reconsider his call for the destruction of all recordings of his television show, if an arrangement could be made to distribute them to home video only.[5]

^ Skelton used a pseudonym of Victor van Bernard for his television performances and named his television production company Van Bernard Productions.[1]

^Skelton offered another explanation for refusing the Willy Clark role: "I turned down the movie The Sunshine Boys because I refused to call Jack Benny a son of a bitch and to look up under a nurse's dress."[245]

^Skelton had been ill for some time but the nature of this illness was not disclosed.[253] Some sources have attributed his death to pneumonia.[254]

^Though aware of the value of his artwork, Skelton did not view his works from a strictly monetary standpoint. He would often do an impromptu sketch on whatever was at hand—often a restaurant's linen napkin—and present it to a fan he was visiting with.[28]

^Skelton also painted ducks and had completed over 3,000 paintings of them in 1973. When he was not pleased with a painting, he threw it into the trash; Skelton's garbage collector rescued these discarded works and sold them.[260]

^Skelton gave an interview in 1984 where he said he had kept all his personal effects since the age of ten; he also indicated that he would "let someone else go through it".[299]

^"Red Skelton to Join Army May 25". The New York Times. May 13, 1944. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2011. "Red Skelton will be Private Richard Skelton on May 25." (pay per view)

1.
Vincennes, Indiana
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Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the part of the state. According to the 2010 census, its population was 18,423, the vicinity of Vincennes was inhabited for thousands of years by different cultures of indigenous peoples. During the Late Woodland period, some of these peoples used local loess hills as burial sites, some of the prominent examples are the Sugar Loaf Mound. In historic times, prominent local native groups were the Shawnee, Wabash, the first European settlers were French, when Vincennes was founded as part of the French colony of New France. Later on, it would be transferred to the colony of Louisiana, several years later, France lost the French and Indian War, and as result ceded territory east of the Mississippi River, including Vincennes, to the victorious British. Once the area was under British rule, it was associated with the Province of Quebec and it then became part of the Illinois Country of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Next it became part of Knox County in the Northwest Territory, Vincennes served as capital of the Indiana Territory from 1800 until 1813, when the government was moved to Corydon. The first trading post on the Wabash River was established by Sieur Juchereau, with thirty-four Canadiens, he founded the company post on October 28,1702 to trade for Buffalo hides with American Indians. The exact location of Juchereaus trading post is not known, but because the Buffalo Trace crosses the Wabash at Vincennes, the post was a success, in the first two years, the traders collected over 13,000 buffalo hides. When Juchereau died, the post was abandoned, the French-Canadian settlers left what they considered hostile territory for Mobile, then the capital of Louisiana. The oldest European town in Indiana, Vincennes was officially established in 1732 as a second French fur trading post in this area. The Compagnie des Indes commissioned a Canadian officer, François-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes, de Vincennes founded the new trading post near the meeting points of the Wabash and White rivers, and the overland Buffalo Trace. De Vincennes, who had lived with his father among the Miami tribe and he also encouraged Canadien settlers to move there, and started his own family to increase the village population. Because the Wabash post was so remote, however, Vincennes had a time getting trade supplies from Louisiana for the native nations. The boundary between the French colonies of Louisiana and Canada, although inexact in the first years of the settlement, was decreed in 1745 to run between Fort Ouiatenon and Vincennes. In 1736, during the French war with the Chickasaw nation, de Vincennes was captured and burned at the stake near the town of Fulton. His settlement on the Wabash was renamed Poste Vincennes in his honor, Louisiana Governor Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville next appointed Louis Groston de Saint-Ange de Bellerive to command Poste Vincennes

2.
Comedian
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A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, a comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comic. Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy, has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and this normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting, e. g. Alexei Sayle, Daniel Tosh, Louis C. K. and Malcolm Hardee. Many comics achieve a cult following while touring famous comedy hubs such as the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, the Edinburgh Fringe, often a comics career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the Edinburgh Comedy Award. Comics sometimes foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, however, a comics stand-up success does not guarantee a films critical or box office success. Comedians can be dated back to 425 BC, when Aristophanes and he wrote 40 comedies,11 of which survive and are still being performed. Aristophanes comedy style took the form of satyr plays, the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare wrote many comedies. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has an ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more light-hearted than Shakespeares other plays. Charles Chaplin was the most popular comedian of the first half of the 20th century. He wrote comedic silent films such as Modern Times and The Kid and his films still have a major impact on comedy in films today. One of the most popular forms of comedy is stand-up comedy. Stand-up comedy is a monologue performed by one or more people standing on a stage. Bob Hope was the most popular comedian of the 20th century. Other noted stand-up comedians include George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Louis CK, another popular form of modern-day comedy is talk shows where comedians make fun of current news or popular topics. Such comedians include Jay Leno, Conan OBrien, Daniel Tosh, Chris Hardwick, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, a third form of modern-day comedy is television programs in which many comedians band together to make skits, such as Saturday Night Live. These shows often receive high ratings, likely because many comedians band together to create jokes, one of the most successful comedians is Ellen Degeneres, who has parlayed her comic career into film, television shows, and hosting major media events. In 1986, Ellen DeGeneres appeared for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson since she began gaining popularity as a comic in the 1980s. Johnny Carson, who launched many contemporary comics careers, would invite them to join him on the couch for one-on-one conversation after their set

3.
Golden Age of Radio
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The old-time radio era, sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Radio, was an era of radio programming in the United States during which radio was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the beginning of broadcasting in the early 1920s and lasted until the 1950s. During this period radio was the only broadcast medium, and people regularly tuned into their favourite radio programs, according to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey,82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. Since this era, radio programming has shifted to a narrow format of news, talk, sports. It allowed subscribers to eavesdrop on live performances and hear news reports by means of a network of telephone lines. The development of radio eliminated the wires and subscription charges from this concept, on Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden is said to have broadcast the first radio program, consisting of some violin playing and passages from the Bible. The first apparent published reference to the event was made in 1928 by H. P, davis, Vice President of Westinghouse, in a lecture given at Harvard University. In 1932 Fessenden cited the Christmas Eve 1906 broadcast event in a letter he wrote to Vice President S. M, Fessendens wife Helen recounts the broadcast in her book Fessenden, Builder of Tomorrows, eight years after Fessendens death. The issue of whether the 1906 Fessenden broadcast actually happened is discussed in Donna Halpers article In Search of the Truth About Fessenden and also in James ONeals essays. It was not until after the Titanic catastrophe in 1912 that radio for communication came into vogue. Radio was especially important during World War I as it was vital for air, after the war, numerous radio stations were born in the United States and set the standard for later radio programs. The first radio program was broadcast on August 31,1920 on the station 8MK in Detroit, owned by The Detroit News. This was followed in 1920 with the first commercial station in the United States, KDKA. The first regular entertainment programs were broadcast in 1922, and on March 10, Variety carried the front page headline, a highlight of this time was the first Rose Bowl being broadcast on January 1,1923 on the Los Angeles station KHJ. Several radio networks broadcast in the United States, airing programs nationwide and their distribution made the golden age of radio possible. The networks declined in the early 1960s, Mutual and NBC both closed down their operations in the 1980s, while ABC lasted until 2007 and CBS still operates its network as of 2016. Mutual, ABC and NBCs radio assets now reside with Cumulus Medias Westwood One division through numerous mergers, cBSs radio assets are in the process of being integrated with Entercom as of 2017. Mutual was run as a cooperative in which the stations owned the network

4.
The Red Skelton Show
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The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time, the host of the show, Richard Bernard Red Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as well. Although his television series is associated with CBS, where it appeared for more than fifteen years, it actually began. During its run, the program received three Emmy Awards, for Skelton as best comedian and the program as best comedy show during its season. In 1959 Skelton also received a Golden Globe for Best TV Show, Red Skeltons network television program began at the start of the 1951 fall season on NBC. The MGM agreement with Skelton for television performances did not allow him to go on the air before September 30,1951. The program was produced at Desilu Productions and CBS Television City in Hollywood, in 1960, Skelton purchased the Chaplin studios, with plans to continue using the facility for his television show and for making films. It was the most colorcast of the few programs CBS aired in color during this period, by 1960, CBS no longer manufactured television sets and pulled the plug on colorcasts. Skelton was infatuated with his appearance on television, and he cajoled CBS to colorcast the program. Although visionary, the venture in color was premature and when it failed, from 1956 to 1962, Sherwood Schwartz was head writer of Skeltons show, for which Schwartz won an Emmy Award in 1961. In September 1962, the program was expanded to a full hour. The format of the program itself during this period was quite simple, the monologue often lapsed into character humor, including Gertrude and Heathcliff, the Two Seagulls, which he performed by crossing his eyes and sticking his thumbs into his armpits for wings. This was followed by a performance, often a singer. Musical accompaniment was provided by the shows orchestra and led by its well-known bandleader. He was also the composer of the shows signature tune. The guest then appeared with Skelton in a comedy sketch, among the notable guest stars on the program were western film stars Amanda Blake and Roscoe Ates, who played a sheriff in the 1961 episode Candid Clem. John Wayne, Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller, George Raft, Martha Raye, in 1965 Diana Ross & the Supremes were musical guests on the show and that same year The Rolling Stones made their American television debut on the Skelton show. Popular television actress Phyllis Avery appeared twice in Clems Watermelons and Nothing But the Tooth, billy Gray, who played Bud Anderson Jr. on Father Knows Best guest starred after the former show ended its six-year run

5.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003, as of 2017, the Walk of Fame comprises over 2,600 stars, spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background, in the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the half of the star field. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year, special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E. M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor, Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, receives credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and a firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955 the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. By another account, the stars were inspired, by Sugarmans drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars. In February 1956 a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree inside a star on a brown background. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant, and included such prominent names as Cecil B, deMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz. A requirement stipulated by the audio recording committee specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement, as a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed for the purpose of creating a separate award system for the music business. The first Grammy Awards were presented in Beverly Hills in 1959, construction of the Walk began in 1958 but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting, in October 1959 the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr. sought damages for the exclusion of his father, chaplins suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project. Woodwards name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558, the other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence

6.
Vaudeville
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Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, a typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a vaudevillian, Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American burlesque. Called the heart of American show business, vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades, the origin of this term is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the French expression voix de ville. A second speculation is that it comes from the songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin. Some, however, preferred the term variety to what manager Tony Pastor called its sissy. Thus, vaudeville was marketed as variety well into the 20th century, with its first subtle appearances within the early 1860s, vaudeville was not initially a common form of entertainment. The form gradually evolved from the saloon and variety hall into its mature form throughout the 1870s and 1880s. This more gentle form was known as Polite Vaudeville, in the years before the American Civil War, entertainment existed on a different scale. Certainly, variety theatre existed before 1860 in Europe and elsewhere, in the US, as early as the first decades of the 19th century, theatregoers could enjoy a performance consisting of Shakespeare plays, acrobatics, singing, dancing, and comedy. As the years progressed, people seeking diversified amusement found a number of ways to be entertained. Vaudeville was characterized by traveling companies touring through cities and towns, a significant influence also came from Dutch minstrels and comedians. Vaudeville incorporated these various itinerant amusements into a stable, institutionalized form centered in Americas growing urban hubs, pastors experiment proved successful, and other managers soon followed suit. B. F. Keith took the step, starting in Boston. Later, E. F. Albee, adoptive grandfather of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, circuits such as those managed by Keith-Albee provided vaudevilles greatest economic innovation and the principal source of its industrial strength. They enabled a chain of allied vaudeville houses that remedied the chaos of the booking system by contracting acts for regional and national tours. These could easily be lengthened from a few weeks to two years, Albee also gave national prominence to vaudevilles trumpeting polite entertainment, a commitment to entertainment equally inoffensive to men, women and children. Acts that violated this ethos were admonished and threatened with expulsion from the remaining performances or were canceled altogether

7.
Pantomime
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Pantomime, is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent. It is a form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music. Pantomime has a theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dellarte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques, an important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. Outside Britain the word pantomime is used to mean miming. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in Rome, the English word came to be applied to the performance itself. Music was supplied by flute and the pulse of an iron-shod shoe, performances might be in a private household, with minimal personnel, or else lavish theatrical productions involving a large orchestra and chorus and sometimes an ancillary actor. The dancer danced all the roles, relying on masks, stock poses and gestures, Pantomime differed from mime by its more artistic nature and relative lack of farce and coarse humour, though these were not absent from some productions. Precursors of pantomime also included the masque, which grew in pomp, the development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continental commedia dellarte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period. Each scenario used some of the stock characters. These included the innamorati, the vecchi such as Pantalone, and zanni such as Arlecchino, Colombina, Scaramouche, Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included the Harlequin character. In the 17th century, adaptations of the characters became familiar in English entertainments. From these, the standard English harlequinade developed, depicting the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine, pursued by the girls father Pantaloon and his comic servants Clown, in English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead. The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, tavern Bilkers, by John Weaver, the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage. The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject of Perseus, after this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane. In 1717 at Lincolns Inn, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin into the theatres pantomimes under the name of Lun and he gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of The Necromancer, or, History of Dr. Faustus. These early pantomimes were silent, or dumb show, performances consisting of only dancing, spoken drama was only allowed in London only in the two patent theatres until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843

8.
Ginger Rogers
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Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is known for her performances in films and RKOs musical films in which Fred Astaire was partened with her and she appeared on stage, as well as on radio and television, throughout much of the 20th century. Born in Independence, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Rogers and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, after winning a dance contest that launched a successful vaudeville career, she gained recognition as a Broadway actress for her debut stage role in Girl Crazy. This success led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films, Rogers had her first successful film role as a supporting actress in 42nd Street. Throughout the 1930s, Rogers made 10 films with Astaire, among which were some of her biggest successes, such as Swing Time, after two commercial failures with Astaire, Rogers began to branch out into dramatic films and comedies. Her acting was received by critics and audiences, and she became one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s. Her performance in Kitty Foyle won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, Rogers remained successful throughout the 1940s and at one point was Hollywoods highest-paid actress, but her popularity had peaked by the end of the decade. She reunited with Astaire in 1949 in the commercially successful The Barkleys of Broadway, after an unsuccessful period through the 1950s, Rogers made a successful return to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in Hello, Dolly. More lead roles on Broadway followed, along with her directorial debut in 1985 on an off-Broadway production of Babes in Arms. Rogers also made acting appearances until 1987. In 1992, Rogers was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors and she died of a heart attack in 1995, at the age of 83. A Republican and a devout Christian Scientist, Rogers was married five times, with all of her marriages ending in divorce, during her long career, Rogers made 73 films, and her musical films with Fred Astaire are credited with revolutionizing their genre. Rogers was successful during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and is considered an American icon. She ranks number 14 on the AFIs 100 Years.100 Stars list of stars of classic American cinema. Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16,1911, in her mothers rented home at 100 Moore Street, Independence and she was the only living child of William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Lela Emogene. She was of Scottish, Welsh, and English ancestry and her mother did not want her born in a hospital, having lost a previous child there. Her parents had separated shortly after she was born, but her grandparents, Walter and Saphrona Owens, after unsuccessfully trying to become a family again, McMath kidnapped his daughter twice. Rogers said that she never saw her father again

9.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
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Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. KBE, DSC, was an American actor and a decorated naval officer of World War II. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City, the child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife. His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and both remarried and he lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London. Fairbankss father was one of cinemas first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief of Bagdad. Largely on the basis of his fathers name, Fairbanks Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 14, in the last years of the silent period, he was elevated to star billing opposite Loretta Young in several pre-Code films. He appeared in Our Modern Maidens, which led to a romance and marriage to his co-star. He also appeared with John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in A Woman of Affairs, in 1930, Fairbanks Jr. went to Warner Bros. to test for the second lead in Moby Dick. Although he didnt get the part, head of production Darryl F. Zanuck was impressed with Douglass screen test and he supported Leslie Howard in Outward Bound and Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar. He made Chances, which was a hit, and Union Depot, because he spoke French he was put in Lathlet incomplet, which screened only in France. During this period of his career, Fairbanks Jr. specialised in supporting female stars such as Bette Davis, Loretta Young, Ann Dvorak and his most notable credit was Morning Glory with Katharine Hepburn. In 1934, Warners asked all his stars to take a 50 percent pay cut because of the Depression, Fairbanks Jr. refused and quit the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and would spend the few years there. Fairbanks Jr. was in The Rise of Catherine the Great and he intended to return to Hollywood to appear in Design for Living but fell ill on the way and Gary Cooper took his part. Back in Britain he made Success at Any Price and Mimi and he made a series of comedies supporting female stars, then had his biggest ever hit with Gunga Din. Fairbanks Jr. began to work increasingly in action/adventure films, The Sun Never Sets, Rulers of the Sea, Green Hell and he had a change of pace when he starred in and co produced Angels Over Broadway. His last film before enlisting was The Corsican Brothers, in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him special envoy to South America. Fairbanks served on the cruiser Wichita during the disastrous Convoy PQ17 operation, lieutenant Fairbanks was subsequently transferred to Virginia Beach where he came under the command of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, who was preparing U. S. naval forces for the invasion of North Africa, Fairbanks convinced Hewitt of the advantages of a military deception unit, then repeated the proposal at Hewetts behest to Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations

10.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown

11.
CBS
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CBS is an American commercial broadcast television network that is a flagship property of CBS Corporation. The company is headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City with major facilities and operations in New York City. CBS is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, in reference to the iconic logo. It has also called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of CBS programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBSs first demonstrations of color television, the network has its origins in United Independent Broadcasters Inc. a collection of 16 radio stations that was purchased by Paley in 1928 and renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System. Under Paleys guidance, CBS would first become one of the largest radio networks in the United States, in 1974, CBS dropped its former full name and became known simply as CBS, Inc. In 2000, CBS came under the control of Viacom, which was formed as a spin-off of CBS in 1971, CBS Corporation is controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, which also controls the current Viacom. The television network has more than 240 owned-and-operated and affiliated stations throughout the United States. The origins of CBS date back to January 27,1927, Columbia Phonographic went on the air on September 18,1927, with a presentation by the Howard Barlow Orchestra from flagship station WOR in Newark, New Jersey, and fifteen affiliates. Operational costs were steep, particularly the payments to AT&T for use of its land lines, in early 1928 Judson sold the network to brothers Isaac and Leon Levy, owners of the networks Philadelphia affiliate WCAU, and their partner Jerome Louchenheim. With the record out of the picture, Paley quickly streamlined the corporate name to Columbia Broadcasting System. He believed in the power of advertising since his familys La Palina cigars had doubled their sales after young William convinced his elders to advertise on radio. By September 1928, Paley bought out the Louchenheim share of CBS, during Louchenheims brief regime, Columbia paid $410,000 to A. H. Grebes Atlantic Broadcasting Company for a small Brooklyn station, WABC, which would become the networks flagship station. WABC was quickly upgraded, and the relocated to 860 kHz. The physical plant was relocated also – to Steinway Hall on West 57th Street in Manhattan, by the turn of 1929, the network could boast to sponsors of having 47 affiliates. Paley moved right away to put his network on a financial footing. In the fall of 1928, he entered talks with Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures. The deal came to fruition in September 1929, Paramount acquired 49% of CBS in return for a block of its stock worth $3.8 million at the time

12.
Sands Hotel and Casino
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The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by the architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent 56-foot high sign, during its heyday, the Sands was the center of entertainment and cool on the Strip, and hosted many famous entertainers of the day, most notably the Rat Pack. The hotel was established in 1952 by Texan oil tycoon Jake Freedman, who bought up the LaRue Restaurant, which had opened two years earlier. The hotel was opened on December 15,1952 as a casino with 200 rooms, the hotel rooms were divided into four two-story motel wings, each with fifty rooms, and named after famous race tracks. The opening was widely publicized, and every guest was given a Chamois bag with silver dollars, crime bosses such as Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello acquired shares in the hotel and attracted Frank Sinatra, who made his performing debut at Sands in October 1953. Sinatra later bought a share in the hotel himself, Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. were instrumental throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s in bringing a change in racial policy in Sands, and after an incident in 1961, it began employing blacks. In 1960 the classic caper film Oceans 11 was shot at the hotel, red Skelton and others, who performed regularly in the hotels world-renowned Copa Room. In the mid 1960s, Sands and its adjacent properties were bought by the reclusive businessman Howard Hughes, after the 1970s it fell into decline until its final owner, Sheldon Adelson, made the decision to shut it down and to build a brand new resort. The last dice in the casino was rolled by Bob Stupak just after 6pm on June 30,1996, on November 26 of that year, it was finally imploded and demolished, much to the dismay of longtime employees and sentimentalists. Today, The Venetian stands where the Sands once stood, the LaRue Restaurant was established in December 1950 by Billy Wilkerson. The following year, oil tycoon Jake Freedman of Houston, Texas bought LaRue for $15,000, Freedmans idea was to build the best hotel and casino in Las Vegas to specifically cater to the glamorous Hollywood film stars and executives in a $600,000 project. Construction began on Sands Hotel in early 1952, built to a design by Wayne McAllister. Freedman had initially intended naming the hotel Holiday Inn after the film of the same name starring Bing Crosby, but after noticing that his socks became so full of sand decided to name it Sands. The tag line would be A Place in the Sun, named after a recently released film starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor, and quite suitable to the hot desert location of Las Vegas. The hotel was opened on December 15,1952 as a casino with 200 rooms, the opening was widely publicized, and the hotel was visited by some 12,000 people within a few hours. At the inauguration were 146 journalists and special guests such as Arlene Dahl, Fernando Lamas, Esther Williams, every guest was given a Chamois bag with silver dollars, and Sands ended up losing $200,000 within the first eight hours. Jack Entratter, who was formerly in charge of the New York nightclub, Entratter made many show business friends during his time at the nightclub, he was able to use these connections to sign performers for the Sands Copa Room. Entratter was also able to offer entertainers an additional incentive to perform at the Sands, headlining stars received points, or a percentage of ownership in the hotel and casino

The old-time radio era, sometimes referred to as the Golden Age of Radio, was an era of radio programming in the United …

Boy learning how to build his own radio circa 1922.

Rehearsal for the World War II radio show You Can't Do Business with Hitler with John Flynn and Virginia Moore. This series of programs, broadcast at least once weekly by more than 790 radio stations in America, was written and produced by the radio section of the Office of War Information (OWI).

The Walk of Fame at the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard, looking eastward. The Dolby Theatre is in the foreground at left. In the upper left quadrant is the famous intersection of Hollywood and Highland.